JPS6238103B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an apparatus for controlling the movement of articles in an assembly line. The present invention relates to an article movement control device in an assembly line in which parts are assembled to articles to be transferred at each work station.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, assembly line conveyor systems can be roughly divided into forced systems and free flow systems, each of which has its advantages and disadvantages. In other words, in the forced method, the conveyor is operated continuously at a low speed that allows workers to work while walking, and workers work while walking along the conveyor, making it easier to control the output.
It has the advantage that even inexperienced workers can learn the work in a short period of time because the items are forced to flow, but on the other hand, after the worker completes the work, they have to return to the upstream side of the conveyor and start the next work. There is a lot of walking loss and fatigue is significant, and when automation is required, synchronization devices are required, which increases costs.Furthermore, the work speed is limited to the conveyor speed.
There is a drawback that work cannot be performed at a speed higher than a predetermined speed. On the other hand, in the free-flow method, an article stopper is installed at a work station along a conveyor that transports articles at a speed that is difficult for walking, and the article is stopped by the stopper to perform work in a fixed position. The system allows users to freely operate the system, there is no walking loss, and there is no need for complicated synchronization devices for automation, so the cost of the system is low, and even if work variations occur, they can be absorbed by the buffering effect. This has the advantage that the organization efficiency is good, and the work speed becomes faster as the worker becomes more skilled, but on the other hand, it is difficult to control the output because each worker can freely set the timing of discharging goods, and it takes a long time to learn the work. This has the disadvantage that it takes time to stabilize the line.

On the other hand, there is a known technology for automatic assembly lines in which each assembly station is provided with a stopper that stops the articles for a certain period of time after the articles reach the assembly station.
(See Publication No. 15082).

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, in automatic assembly, the working time does not originally change, and there is no problem even if the repalette delivery is controlled based on a uniform time, whereas in a manual assembly line, In addition to stabilizing the output, it is essential to consider the workers, and the forced and free flow methods known as conventional article movement control have advantages and disadvantages, and the consideration for the workers or the stabilization of the output is largely sacrificed. Improvement was desired in this regard.

Furthermore, if the stopper is controlled for a fixed period of time based on the prior art described above, the following problem will occur.

In other words, if the payout is set after the standard working time, it will not be possible to respond to fluctuations in volume,
Moreover, if the dispensing is performed in the middle of the standard work time, the walking work will be required every time, even though it would be better not to do the walking work if there is no next item.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a movement control device for articles on an assembly line that can stabilize output and reduce walking loss as much as possible. .

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention operates an endless moving body continuously at a constant speed, provides a conveyor on which articles are placed and transferred, and performs a plurality of operations along this conveyor. In an assembly line in which stations are arranged and parts are assembled at each work station to articles transferred by the conveyor, the speed of the conveyor is low enough to allow walking work, and the speed of each work station of the conveyor is low enough to allow walking. A movable stopper is provided nearby that can take an operative position for stopping the article on the endless moving body and an inoperative position for releasing it, and the movable stopper is provided at a predetermined distance upstream position of each work station by the conveyor. A detection means for detecting an incoming article is provided, and when the detection means detects an article, the movable stopper is temporarily moved to a non-operating position, and only the article stopped by the movable stopper is passed. The present invention is characterized in that it is provided with a stopper control means for controlling the movement.

(Operations and Effects of the Invention) According to the assembly line article movement control device having the above configuration, an article, that is, a workpiece stopped at a work station, is moved to a predetermined vicinity of the work station so that the next workpiece can be transported to a predetermined vicinity of the work station. When the machine reaches the conveyor, it automatically and forcibly starts feeding the machine to the next work station, and if there is any unfinished work at that work station, the worker can complete it while walking along the conveyor. This method has the advantages of a forced method in that output can be stabilized and work techniques can be learned in a short period of time, while the workpiece is temporarily stopped by the action of the stopper, so there is less walking loss during work. , there is no need to walk if there is no following article, and furthermore, the stopper can achieve a buffering effect, so it can absorb most of the variation in work speed at each work station, and has the advantages of the free flow method, which has good knitting efficiency. It is something you have.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the apparatus for controlling the movement of articles in an assembly line according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an apparatus for controlling the movement of articles in an assembly line according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1a, reference numeral 1 designates a conveyor consisting of an endless moving body 2, which is operated continuously at a constant speed by a suitable drive device. Work stations S1, S2, . . . are arranged at predetermined intervals along this conveyor. The work W is placed on a pallet and transported between the work stations S1, S2, . . . by the conveyor. Each of the work stations S1 and S2 is provided with stoppers 3 and 4 for stopping the sent workpiece W at the work station while the conveyor 1 remains in operation. The stoppers 3 and 4 are each movable in the vertical direction above the conveyor 1 between an active position for stopping the work W on the conveyor 1 and a non-active position for releasing it.

On the other hand, limit switches 5 and 6 are arranged between the two work stations and closer to the upstream work station to detect the work W being sent towards the work station by the conveyor 1. . The distance between the stoppers 3, 4 and the limit switches 5, 6 is such that the stopper moves to its inactive position and completely releases the previous workpiece W, and the stopper moves to the non-operating position to completely release the previous workpiece W, and the stopper moves to the non-operating position to completely release the previous workpiece W. It is necessary that the distance is such that a sufficient time interval can be obtained to return to the working position where the next workpiece is stopped. The cycle time is T, the workpiece stop time is T ₁ , the station pitch is P, the workpiece interval (actually, the workpiece is often placed on a jig pallet, in this case the jig pallet interval) is x, Assuming that the workpiece length (jig pallet length) is Z and the conveyor speed is A, the relationship between these factors is preferably expressed by the following equation, for example.

A=P-(Z+x)/T T ₁ =T-Z+z/A Note that the work interval represented by x here is the interval between two workpieces when the next workpiece W is detected by the limit switch. means.

The vertical movement of the stoppers 3 and 4 is controlled by control circuits 7 and 8. The control circuits 7 and 8 are connected to limit switches 5 and 6, respectively, and are activated when the limit switches detect the workpiece W to move the stoppers 3 and 4 to the inactive position. The control circuits 7 and 8 also have the function of allowing the stoppers 3 and 4 to completely release the workpiece W and returning the stopper to its operating position before the next workpiece comes to the position of the stopper. For this reason, the control circuits 7, 8
The stopper is configured, for example, to include a timer (not shown) and to return the stopper to its working position after a predetermined period of time.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 1a to 1d, the operation of the article movement control device in the assembly line having the above configuration will be described. In addition, in FIG. 1 a to d,
Symbol P indicates a worker.

First, as shown in FIG. 1a, the worker P assembles parts onto the work W which is stopped by the stoppers 3 and 4. Note that, as described above, the conveyor 1 continues to operate during this time. When the limit switches 5 and 6 detect the next work W, the first
As shown in Figure b, the control circuits 7 and 8 move the stoppers 3 and 4 to their inactive positions, release the previous workpiece W, and move the conveyor 1 to transport the workpiece W toward the next work station. let At this time, the worker P moves to the next work station with the work W and performs the remaining work. For this reason, the traveling speed of the conveyor 1 is set to a speed that allows walking work of 2 to 5 m/min. When the workpiece W has completely passed the stopper position, the control circuit 7 returns the stoppers 3, 4 to their operating positions (see FIG. 1c). On the other hand, the worker P who has completed the work moves toward the original work station. As shown in FIG. 1d, after the next workpiece W is stopped by the stoppers 3 and 4, the worker P returns to the original work station and starts assembling parts to the workpiece W.
By repeating the above steps, many parts are assembled to the workpiece.

In the above embodiment, the timer is used to perform temporal control to return the stoppers 3 and 4 to their working positions, but the stoppers 3 and 4 are activated only while the limit switches 5 and 6 are in the ON state. Alternatively, another limit switch may be used to detect when the released workpiece has left the stopper position by a predetermined distance, thereby returning the stopper to the working position. You can also do this.

Next, the main parts of another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 10 designates a stopper, which is pivoted by a shaft 11 and can be moved to a non-active position by being driven clockwise from the shown working position. It's getting old. Behind this stopper 10 is an actuating member 12 for pivoting the stopper 10 from an inactive position to an active position.
is provided. This actuating member 12 has a locking portion 13 which can assume the illustrated upper and lower positions, and this locking portion 13 prevents the stopper 10 from rotating clockwise when in the lower position. On the other hand, when moving from this lower position to the upper position, the stopper 10 is moved counterclockwise toward the operating position, and when in the upper position, the stopper 10 is locked in the operating position. Also,
On the upstream side of this stopper 10, a detection lever 14 for detecting the workpiece W is provided at the same position as the limit switches 5 and 6 shown in FIG.
This detection lever 14 is pivotally mounted by a shaft 15, and is normally maintained in the position shown in the figure by the action of a spring 16 and a stopper 17. This spring 16 is selected to be very weak and configured so that the detection lever 14 is pivoted to the position shown by the chain line in the figure by the workpiece W on the conveyor 1. The detection lever 14 and the actuation member 12 are operatively connected by a wire cable 18, and the detection lever 14 detects the workpiece W when pivoted clockwise by the workpiece W. When this happens, the wire of the wire cable 18 is pulled to pull down the locking part 13 of the actuating member 12, and the stopper 1 is pulled down.
0 pivoting is allowed and the workpiece W is passed toward the next work station. When the workpiece W passes the detection lever 14, the lever 14 returns to its original position by the action of the spring 16, thereby returning the stopper 10 to its original operating position. In this embodiment, in order to facilitate the operation of the detection lever and the stopper, it is desirable that the conveyor 1 be constructed of two parallel endless running bands.

In the above two embodiments, electrical and mechanical devices have been described as workpiece detection devices, but various other types such as optical devices can be used. Further, the stopper may be of any type as long as it can stop and release the workpiece.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1a, b, c, and d are schematic diagrams of an article movement control device in an assembly line according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and a diagram showing the operating state; FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the main parts of a movement control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. W...Work, 1...Conveyor, 3, 4, 10
...Stopper, 5,6...Limit switch, 1
4...Detection lever.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 An endless moving body is operated continuously at a constant speed, a conveyor is provided on which the article is placed and transferred, a plurality of work stations are arranged along this conveyor, and the article is transferred by this conveyor. to the goods,
In an assembly line in which parts are assembled at each work station, the speed of the conveyor is low enough to allow walking work, and the conveyor has a working position near each work station to stop the articles on the endless moving body. and a movable stopper capable of taking a non-operating position for releasing the movable stopper, a detecting means for detecting articles being conveyed by the conveyor at a predetermined distance upstream of each work station; An assembly characterized in that stopper control means is provided for temporarily moving the movable stopper to an inactive position when the detection means detects the article, and allowing only the article stopped by the movable stopper to pass through. A device for controlling the movement of goods on a line.